In a sharp critique, Babulal Marandi, the BJP state chief and Jharkhand’s Leader of Opposition, has accused the state government of fabricating new criminal cases to hide the reality of rising crime. Marandi declared that creating artificial offenses to obscure the truth has become a common practice by the administration. The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent crackdown on Dhanbad’s notorious coal syndicate has exposed alarming details. A particularly concerning aspect is the alleged instruction from high-ranking police officers, allegedly profiting from the coal trade’s black money, to their local enforcers. Their mission: to eliminate specific individuals involved in the ED’s inquiry to prevent them from revealing critical information. Marandi alleged that plots are being hatched to murder witnesses being questioned by the ED to bury the truth. He reminisced about similar past incidents in the state where ‘evidence elimination’ occurred under the guise of police encounters. He pointed to a former DGP who faced serious allegations of contract killings and extreme corruption, with even ruling party figures admitting to his corrupt legacy. Marandi advised the ED to exercise extreme caution, stating that in Jharkhand, silencing the truth is paramount. He warned that when power, the system, and organized crime become intertwined, the demise of justice is an almost foregone conclusion.
